My Summer Consultant Experience - Jeff C.

I had an amazing summer with L.E.K. Consulting after my first year of business school at Johnson. From my first day of training to my last day of casework, L.E.K. delivered a best-in-class internship experience. I’m now in my first year as a Consultant in L.E.K.’s Boston office with a handful of cases under my belt. When current business school students ask me why I decided to return to L.E.K., I walk them through what makes the summer experience here best-in-class.

For starters, the training is top-notch. The entire U.S. class of Summer Consultants gathers for five days at an off-site location in Boston. Training is a compressed “best-hits” version of the 10-day full-time training program. It is run by a former L.E.K. Engagement Manager, who nicely connects topics relevant for success on the job with anecdotes from personal experience as an L.E.K. Consultant. Heading into week two, I felt cool, calm, collected and well prepared for my first L.E.K. case.

The types of challenges L.E.K. helps clients solve are dynamic. During the client kickoff meeting at the beginning of week two, I realized that the issue facing the L.E.K. case team was the client’s number one priority. During the next six weeks, we spent time understanding the client’s situation, enumerating the options and developing a fact-based recommendation. In a life sciences case, L.E.K.’s recommendation helped shape the client’s commercialization strategy and supported a royalty securitization transaction to free-up cash for R&D.

Since then, I’ve had exposure to a variety of sectors (e.g., life sciences, private equity, retail & consumer products, aviation) – which is one aspect of the firm that attracted me to L.E.K. Across these cases, client’s turned to us to help make major decisions that would impact their performance 3-5+ years out. Being part of a super-smart L.E.K. team to tackle these issues is intellectually stimulating because I feel that I can constantly learn from others and challenge myself.

L.E.K. provides an incredibly supportive network of resources for Summer Consultants to tap for career advice. I met with my trio of mentors regularly throughout the summer including a buddy (experienced Consultant), mentor (Engagement Manager), and career development coach (VP). These were generally one-on-one or small group chats during breakfast, coffee or lunch. Topics ranged from life at L.E.K. to case experiences to tips on succeeding at L.E.K. to just getting to know a tenured L.E.K.er. On a daily basis, my cohort of Summer Consultants in Boston would go to lunch together, swap stories, and give each other advice. Between the L.E.K. mentorship program and the camaraderie in the Summer Consultant class, I feel that L.E.K. pro-actively sets up its Summer Consultants for success in the summer internship and beyond for those who decide to make a career at L.E.K.

The L.E.K. summer experience is also jam-packed with fun activities. For example, we went on more L.E.K.-sponsored dinners and lunches than I can count and enjoyed a bunch of L.E.K.-wide summer parties (e.g., bowling, lobster bake on the harbor islands). At the end of the summer, we spent several days in Palm Beach, Florida on the beach, taking catamaran cruises, and golfing. L.E.K. has a social culture, so getting to know colleagues outside of casework contributes to getting a great picture of the “genuine L.E.K. experience”.

As I reflect on my summer with L.E.K., I had a very positive experience, which is why I chose to return to L.E.K. full-time after my second year at Johnson. I was staffed on two great projects alongside a great team tasked with making a difference on clients’ top priorities. I experienced the firm’s commitment to personal and professional development and met many amazing people that I call my colleagues today.